Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“I” is for “Insomniacs”

Insomniacs After School vol. 1 by Makoto Ojiro

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Bingo 7: “I” is for “Insomniacs” Title: “Insomniacs After School”; relevance to the “I” square self-explanatory. I was kind of surprised how much I liked this for it being a high school slice of life kind of thing. Basic plot is two students with legit sleep issues (for very different reasons – one seemingly medical, the other potentially emotional) bond over finding a good nap spot in the abandoned astronomy observatory at their school.  Then it turns into a school club story when a teacher […]

Cats Being Cats

Cat + Gamer vol. 4 by Wataru Nadatani

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Bingo6  : Play This one is kind of literal. Cat + Gamer is a manga about a gamer geek girl who gets a cat. Riko (human) describes her cat in gamer terms, and when she gets a new kitty to keep Musubi (kitty1) company, she frames it as a game quest. We get to see Riko playing her games a bit, but also Soboro (kitty 2) and Musubi learning to play with each other. I don’t even think I missed too much by jumping in […]

If you want the sweet of The Snowman, look somewhere else

When the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs

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How do you make a book about The Bomb and War beautiful? As Raymond Briggs or actually, read their graphic novel titled When the Wind Blows. This is not The Snowman with its whimsy and sweetness. This is a book that will make you laugh, be sad, have an off chuckle (should I really be laughing at these poor people?), then you will not stop crying. This is an amazing Anti-War story that is not for the sensitive reader, but is a must read to […]

The island might be unspoiled but some of its residents really stink…

Summer Shadows by John Harris Dunning, Ricardo Cabral, Brad Simpson and Jim Campbell

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The cover of Summer Shadows by John Harris Dunning, Ricardo Cabral, Brad Simpson and Jim Campbell is a tad misleading. It makes things look like a teen thriller in the line of a slightly darker Christopher Pike, RL Stine, or Richie Tankersley Cusick and the like. In other words, something from the late 1980s or early 1990s when I was a teen and actually reading realistic paranormal.  Instead of a “teeny bopper thriller with supernatural” we get sex, drugs, and vampires. We get some downright […]

When you’re Evil (ish) and make a mean latte

teenagers, self-esteem, good and evil, fame villains, by Kennedy Tarrell

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When I saw the cover of Evil-ish by Kennedy Tarrell I figured it would be in the fantasy genre and I hoped for a graphic novel. The graphic novel hinting covers have fooled me often of late so I was hoping I was not going to be disappointed and instead of a good, old fashioned graphic novel, I would find myself reading a (gasp! clutching pearls) a NOVEL! Actually, that hyperbole works well for this cute, fun, and cozy familiar story. Our main character is […]

An Intriguing Beginning

Dinghai Fusheng Records Vol. 1 by Lv Fei

Dinghai Fusheng Records Vol. 2 by Lv Fei

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Chen Xing is the last Great Exorcist, charged with protecting the world from a demonic entity.  He’s also all of sixteen and expects to die on his twentieth birthday.  Setting off to find his counterpart, the “Protector Martial God”, things aren’t exactly going as planned.  His “Protector Martial God” turns out to be a mysterious man with a possibly criminal past that wants nothing to do with him.  Drought Fiends are popping up all over the place and seems like sinister magic is afoot. This […]



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